Chapter 23 - Eleanor’s Reckoning
Peter Donati looked older than death.
Eighty-one.
Thin.
White hair.
A scar ran along his jaw.
He sat behind reinforced glass inside a federal interview facility.
Eleanor entered alone.
Adrien watched from another room with Isabella and Rebecca Shaw.
Peter smiled when he saw Eleanor.
“You still look like Lorenzo’s queen.”
Eleanor sat.
“And you still sound like a fool.”
His smile widened.
“I missed you.”
“I didn’t.”
Peter leaned closer.
“You know why I asked for you?”
“Because old men become sentimental when they realize prison has poor food.”
Peter laughed.
Adrien almost smiled despite himself.
Then Peter’s expression changed.
“Lorenzo betrayed us.”
“No.”
“He wanted to destroy everything.”
“He wanted Adrien to escape what we built.”
“That is betrayal.”
Eleanor’s eyes hardened.
“No. It was the first truly decent decision any of you made.”
Peter stared.
“You loved the power.”
“I loved my husband.”
“You enjoyed the house.”
“I still have the house.”
“Cars.”
“I cannot drive half of them.”
“Respect.”
Eleanor smiled sadly.
“Fear is not respect, Peter.”
His face tightened.
“You sound like Isabella.”
“Then perhaps Isabella has improved me.”
Peter leaned back.
“The child will never be safe.”
Adrien stepped toward the observation glass.
Rebecca raised a hand.
Wait.
Eleanor did not flinch.
“My grandchild?”
“Yes.”
“You photographed Isabella.”
“I ordered surveillance.”
“Why?”
“To make Adrien understand.”
“Understand what?”
“That you do not leave.”
Eleanor looked genuinely puzzled.
“Leave what?”
“The blood.”
Peter became animated.
“Our fathers built this. Our husbands expanded it. Our sons inherited it. You cannot suddenly pretend the name means nothing.”
Eleanor sat silently.
Then she laughed.
Peter stopped.
“You know what Lorenzo told me the week before he died?”
Peter’s expression changed.
“He said the greatest lie men like you ever told yourselves was that your crimes were heritage.”
Adrien closed his eyes.
He had never heard that.
Eleanor continued.
“You wanted your sons trapped because if they escaped, you would have to admit you chose this life.”
Peter’s jaw tightened.
“You think Adrien is different?”
“Yes.”
“He killed.”
“Yes.”
“He ruled.”
“Yes.”
“He profited.”
“Yes.”
Peter smiled triumphantly.
Eleanor leaned forward.
“And now he is stopping.”
The smile vanished.
“That is the difference.”
Peter stared at her.
“He will be weak.”
“No.”
Eleanor shook her head.
“You men always confuse cruelty with strength.”
She stood.
“My grandchild will know the Moretti name.”
Peter watched her.
“But not because people whisper it in fear.”
Eleanor turned toward the door.
Peter called after her.
“Bellini will never testify.”
She stopped.
Adrien moved closer to the glass.
Eleanor turned.
“What did you say?”
Peter smiled.
“Stefano has insurance.”
Rebecca entered the room immediately.
“What insurance?”
Peter ignored her.
Eleanor sat again.
“Tell me.”
“He kept recordings.”
“Of whom?”
“Everyone.”
“Where?”
Peter smiled.
“Ask Victor Salvatore.”
Adrien cursed softly.
Victor was in federal protective custody.
Rebecca immediately made calls.
Victor denied knowing about recordings.
Then, after twenty minutes, changed his answer.
He knew of one location.
A storage unit in Indiana registered under Bellini’s late wife’s maiden name.
Federal agents raided it.
Inside were hundreds of tapes.
Audio.
Video.
Photographs.
Decades.
Bellini had recorded meetings with politicians and family leaders.
Some proved crimes.
Some showed corruption.
Others documented coercion.
But one tape stunned Adrien.
Lorenzo Moretti.
Recorded eleven years before his death.
Lorenzo sat across from Bellini.
“I’m done, Stefano.”
Bellini laughed.
“Nobody is done.”
“My son will be.”
“Adrien is more like you than you understand.”
“Then I failed him.”
Adrien’s throat tightened.
Lorenzo continued.
“I want legitimate companies. Real employees. Taxes paid. No politicians bought. No men beaten because they missed payments.”
Bellini shook his head.
“You’ve grown sentimental.”
“I’ve grown tired.”
“Same thing.”
Lorenzo leaned forward.
“If anything happens to me, the files survive.”
Bellini smiled.
“And if anything happens to Adrien?”
Lorenzo’s voice became quiet.
“Then hell will not be far enough for you to hide.”
The recording ended.
Adrien stood motionless.
His father had been planning the same exit.
Not perfectly.
Not quickly enough.
But he had tried.
Isabella took Adrien’s hand.
“You’re finishing what he started.”
Adrien looked at his mother.
Eleanor’s eyes were wet.
For years, Lorenzo’s secrets had haunted them.
Now one secret finally gave something back.
Hope.
Peter Donati was charged with conspiracy and stalking.
The threat against Isabella ended.
But another problem emerged from Bellini’s recordings.
One tape implicated a sitting federal official in protecting Bellini investigations.
Rebecca Shaw listened twice.
Her face went pale.
Adrien knew that expression.
“What?”
She turned off the recording.
“My deputy.”
The man with access to witness locations.
The man who knew federal transport schedules.
The man who could have helped Victor escape.
May you like
Bellini’s influence had reached the very office supposedly dismantling him.
And now they had to discover whether the investigation itself had already been compromised.
